Mossberg JM Pro Tactical/Competition Shotgun

Trusted Review™ Scorecard

Average Score: 4.0out of5.0

Each product or service is rated on Quality, Reliability, Price/Value, and Referability. Each area has an individual score, and creates an overall Trusted Review™.

Chris Cerino of Top Shot and Cerino Training Group runs the JM Pro at Lewis Creek Shooting School.

Most of the time, to get something really good, you have to pay a little more, sometimes a lot more. Mossberg is a company that has proven this isn’t always true. I’ve been a fan of Mossberg since high school. A high school friend bought a Mossberg 500 pump in 1968 and I was totally impressed that it had good, solid walnut wood, decent bluing, and worked flawlessly. I’ve been a Mossberg fan ever since and once went through a duck season shooting an 835 with a success ratio of one duck per two shells.

When I first saw the semiautomatic Mossberg JM Pro, I was afraid Mossberg had tried to put too much into the features and perhaps the gun might not be able to cash the check the features were writing. I was wrong. This is a great gun and, while it might not be up to the level of guns that are painstakingly modified for competition, it is certainly a great gun for the beginning 3-gunner. It must work pretty well for the experienced three gunner as well, because Jerry Miculek is using one this season and the JM in the name represents his initials.

What makes the JM Pro a great gun is that it works. It has a big operating handle, an oversized loading port for fast reloading, and a ten-round capacity with the big extended magazine. The gun works slick. The trigger isn’t up to master level standards but it’s as good or better than any semi-auto I’ve shot. It’s light, with a slight amount of creep, and it’s adjustable for backlash. The stock comes with a good quality recoil pad and spacers to allow the shooter to adjust cast and comb height. This is important when you’re shooting on the clock, because it assures you shoot where you look and manage the recoil.

I took the gun to a two gun event at Piedmont Handgunner’s Association and match director, Ron Gearren, included it in one of the stages. Every shooter in the event fired it with both slugs and shot, courtesy of Winchester Ammunition, and there wasn’t a single hiccup. Afterwards, I got raves on the event web thread and multiple emails asking where to find one, and they are a little hard to find, a great testimonial for a new gun.

Quality

This is a working gun and not a fit and finish gun. The finish is designed for function and the parts are machined to produce a reliable gun for a competitive price.

Reliability

Sixty different shooters loaded and fired the JM Pro at the two gun shoot. They fired multiple rounds, loading and shooting under pressure without a single malfunction. I’ve fired it with everything from slugs to factory 7/8-ounce target loads and there’s not been a malfunction. The only way I could get the JM Pro to malfunction was to shoot some super light reloads meant for old Damascus-barreled guns. It ran 95% of them.

Price/Value

There is nothing on the market that replicates this gun for twice the price. Mossberg’s shotgun line has always been value oriented and the JM Pro is no exception. With an MSRP of $649, this gun has all the features needed for a serious tactical/competition shotgun.

Referability

For the hardcore 3-gun shooter, this gun will need some smoothing up. The trigger will need some work and there may be some flaws that show up after thousands of rounds but remember, Jerry Miculek is using one. For the novice or casual three gunner, it will get him going and may be all the shotgun he ever needs. For home defense, this is an incredibly effective firearm with a lot of firepower.